Trivia / The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

• Actor-Inspired Element: The Mongol Slave was created specifically for Anna May Wong to play, after Douglas Fairbanks had seen The Toll of the Sea.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Of all the movies that he made, Douglas Fairbanks considered this one to be his best.
• Fake Nationality: Zig-zagged all over the map. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of white Americans playing Middle Easterners (this being old Hollywood), but there are also a bunch of other cross-racial quirks: the fine black actor Noble Johnson plays the Indian Prince, with such pale makeup that he looks like a white guy doing brownface; the German-Japanese-American art critic Sadakichi Hartmann makes a random cameo as a Baghdad magician; and the Prince of Persia is played by a French actress, Mathilde Comont.
• Playing Against Type: At the time, Douglas Fairbanks had been best known for light comedy. This along with Robin Hood led to swashbuckling action hero becoming his new type.
• Star-Making Role: Anna May Wong became a household name with this film. Unfortunately, it led to her being typecast as a Dragon Lady for several years.
• Trolling Creator: Several prints credit Mathilde Comont as 'M Comont' in order to disguise her gender from the audience.
• Typecasting: Julanne Johnston had starred in another "Arabian Nights" Days film the same year; The Brass Bottle, now considered lost.
• Underage Casting: Children play the guards in scenes with the giant ape - but adults are used in the shots when the ape is off camera - in order to make it look bigger.